Multiple gearing



(NoMoael.) y I. L. UNTERBRINK.

MULTIPLE GEARING.

No. 512,460. Pateted Jan. 9, 1894.

UNITED STATES PATENT ErrcE.

IGNATIUS L. UNTERBRINK, OF FRYBURG, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO OYRENIUS A. LAYTON, OF WAPAKONETA, OHIO.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 512,460, dated January 9, 1894,

Application tiled Tuly 5, 1893. Serial No. L179,618. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, IGNATIUs L. UNTER- BR1NK,acitizen 'of the United States, residing at Fryburg, in the county of Auglaize and State of Ohio, have invented a new and useful Multiple Gearing, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to multiple speedgearing for bicycles, tricycles, and similar vehicles, and it contemplates the provision of a compact and simple system of co-acting gears capable of a plurality of relative adjustments to produce a corresponding numberof relative speeds, such gearing being so arranged as to permit of its being housed and thus protected and concealedto exclude dust and avoid contact with the clothing of the rider.

Further objects and advantages of this invention will appear in the following description, and the novel features thereof will be particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

In the drawings: Figure 1 is a side view of a safety bicycle provided with a speed-gearing attachment embodying my invention. Fig. 2 is a plan view of the same with the casing or housingbroken away. Fig. 3 is alongitudinal section on the line 3-3 of Fig. 2. Fig. t is a transverse section parallel with the crank-shaft upon the line 4:--4 of Fig. v2. Fig. 5 is a side view, partly broken away, to show the connection between the chain-wheel and the crank-shaft.

Similar numerals of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the figures of the drawings.

1 designates the framework of a safety bicycle of any ordinary construction, 2 the crank or treadle shaft, 3 the front or steering wheel, and 4 the rear or driving wheelwhich is connected, by means of a chain 5, with the crank-shaft.

6 represents the ordinary sprocket-Wheel or chain-wheel, which is carried by the crankshaft for operating the chain 5, said wheel being loosely mounted for free rotation upon the crank-shaft and being connected, by means of an interposed collar 7, to a gear 8, which in this case is shown as a bevel gear and being carried by the loose chain-wheel is freely rotatable upon the crank-shaft. The

shaft is provided within the hub of the chainwheel with a toothed collar or ratchet 9, and the chain-wheel carries spring-actuated pawls 10, which engage said ratchet when the crankshaft is rotated in the direction indicated by the arrow in Fig. 5, and the parts are adjusted so that the motion of the crank-shaft is communicated directly to the chain-wheel through said pawls.

Reference to the drawings will show thatl have illustrated but a single pawl 10, this feature, however, being capable of modification according to requirements.

11 representsa rotatable spindle arranged perpendicular to the crank-shaft and mounted in suitable bearings 12 upon the framework of the machine, and xed to this spindle is a gear 13 which meshes at all times with a corresponding gear 14, which is xed to the crank-shaft adjacent to the loose gear S. Rotatably mounted upon the spindle 11,adjacent to the gear 13, is a larger loose gear 15, which meshes at all times with the gear S. In order to enable the gear 15 to mesh with the gear 8 when the latter is of the same size or smaller than the gear 14 (the gears 14 and 8 being approximately equal in size, as shown in the drawings), the gear 15 is recessed, as shown at 16, whereby its toothedperiphery incloses or surroundsv the gear 13, the latter being disposed in the recess 16. A clutch 17 is provided for the connection of the loose gear 15, to the spindle 11, one member 18 of such clutch being fixed permanently to the gear 15, and the other member 19 thereof being slidably mounted upon the spindle and capable of interlocking with the member 18 when brought in contact therewith. Said slidable member of the clutch is feathered upon the spindle 11.

1n connection with the above-described mechanism I employ means for operating the slidable member of the clutch, such means being under the control of the rider to permit of easy engagement and disengagement of the members of the clutch, This adjusting mechanism consists, preferably, of a longitudinally-movable yoke 20, having its parallel arms 21 provided with terminal inturned studs 22, which engage a peripheral groove 23, of the movable member 19, an actuating spring 24e connected to the yoke and arranged ICO to normally hold the members of the clutch in operative relation, and an operating lever 25, which is connected by means of rods 2G and an interposed bell-crank lever 27 to the yoke. A clamp 28 is provided for the engagement of the operating lever when the latter has been moved to disengage the members of the clutch.

This being the construction of my improved gearing, the operation thereof is as follows: When the members of the clutch are disengaged, the rotation of the crank-shaft will be communicated directly to the chain-wheel through the pawl-and-ratchet connection, and the speed of the machine will be dependent solely upon the relative sizes of the chain-carrying wheels, asin the bicycles and other vehicles in common use, andthe fixed gear 14 will turn the fixed speed-gear 13 and the shaft 11 idly, inasmuch as there is no connection between such shaft and the loose speed-gear l5. When the members of the clutch are interlocked, as they are automatically upon the release of the operating lever, owing to the action of the spring 24, the rotation of the crankshaft will be communicated through the fixed gear 14, the fixed speed-gear13, and the spindle 11 to the loose speed-gear 15, and from thence through the loose gear 8 to the chaingear, thus by the relative sizes of the said gears rotating the chain-wheel at a greater speed than the crank-shaft and causing the pawl to slip idly over the ratchet of the crankshaft. It will be seen that in adjusting the gearing for power or speed, there is no displacement of gears and is accomplished simply by the movement ofthe slidable member of the clutch 17.

The disposition of the members of the above-described gear is such that a small cubic box or housing 29 may be arranged upon the crank-shaft to inclose the sameincluding the gears 13, 15, 14, and S, and the clutch 17, thus excluding dust from the co-operating parts and preventing contact with the clothing of the rider.

In adapting the mechanism asdescribed to machines of different makes and having frame Works of different constructions, it will become necessary to modify, in some respects, the relative arrangement of the parts, especially with regard to the adjusting mechanism for the movable member of the clutch, and therefore it will be understood that various changes in the form, proportion, and the minor details of construction may be resorted to Without departing from the principle or sacrificing any of the advantages of this invention.

Having described my invention, what I claim is- 1. The combination with a driving-shaft,

of a chain-wheel loosely mounted upon said shaft, apaWLand-ratchet connection between the chain-wheel and the shaft, a rotatable spindle carrying a fixed gear which meshes with a fixed gear upon the driving-shaft, a loose gear mounted upon said spindle and meshing with a gear carried by the chainwheel, and means for locking said loose gear to the spindle, substantially as specified.

2. The combination with a driving-shaft, of a chain-wheel loosely mounted upon the shaft, a pawl-and-ratchet connection between the chain-wheel and the shaft, a spindle carrying a fixed gear which meshes with a fixed gear upon the drivingshaft, a loose gear mounted upon said spindle and meshing with a gear carried by the chain wheel, a clutch,

one member of which is carried by said loose gear and the other member of which is slid-y ably mounted upon the spindle, and means for operating said slidable member, substantially as specified.

The combination with a driving-shaft, a chain -wheel loosely mounted upon said shaft, and a pawl-and-ratchet connection between the chai n-wheel and the shaft, of a rotatable spindle carrying a fixed gear which meshes with a fixed gear upon the drivingshaft, a loose gear mounted upon said spindle and meshing with a gear carried by the chain wheel, a clutch having one member fixed to said loose gear and the other member slidably mounted upon the spindle, an actuating spring arranged to normally hold the members of the clutch in operative relation, and means for disengaging the members of the clutch, substantially as specified.

et. The combination with a driving-shaft, a chain-wheel loosely mounted upon said shaft, and a pawl-aud-ratchet connection between the chain -wheel and the shaft, of a gear 14 fixed to the shaft, agear 8 carried by the chain-whee1 and connected thereto by an interposed collar,a spindle arranged perpendicular to the driving shaft, a speed -gear fixed to said spindle and meshing with the fixed gear 14, a loose speed-gear rotatably mounted upon the spindle and meshing with the loose gear 8, a clutch having one member carried by the loose speed-gear and the other member slidably mounted upon the spindle, means for operating the slidablc member of the clutch, and a box or housing YYinclosing said gears and clutch, substantially as specified.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own I have hereto affixed my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

IGNATIUS L. UNTERBRINK. Witnesses:

J. H. SIGGERs, GEO. C. SHOEMAKER.

IOD

IIO 

